A Clean Romance
by TILAgal
Summary: Eren Jaeger, a young and promising student, falls in love, and is determined to make the love of his life fall for him (or at least, go out with him). [Names are not the official ones due to readers' preferences]
1. Chapter 1

**A Clean Romance**

**A/N: **After being on a hiatus for months, I emerge with this :P My style etc hasn't changed much, only this time, I'm writing for SnK, which I shamefully admit I have a limited knowledge of. Nevertheless, I hope you guys would enjoy this fic ^^

**Summary: **Eren Jaeger, a young and promising student, falls in love, and is determined to make the love of his life fall for him (or at least, go out with him).

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin!

* * *

CHAPTER 1:

Eren Jaeger, seventeen years old, a not-so-intelligent but hardworking student from Saint Maria High School, had a problem.

He was deeply, irrevocably and very much in love with Rivaille-san.

Yes, Rivaille-san. Not Mikasa, his beautiful and headstrong best friend, not Crista, the shy, quiet and pleasant girl most of the guys in his year liked, not Hanji-sensei, the quirky but very intellectual biology teacher, but Rivaille-san.

Rivaille-san, the thirty-year-old, shorter-than-average, seemingly-forever-grumpy school cleaner.

Eren groaned and slumped in his seat, burying his head in his arms as he thought of his predicament.

What bugged him wasn't the fact that he liked a guy (he had nothing against homosexuals), nor the fact that it was the school cleaner of all people that he liked. It was Rivaille-san's age that bothered him. He had no idea his crush was _that_ old until he had told him.

* * *

_Flashback_

"I'm thirty."

_CRASH!_ Eren dropped the stack of old newspapers he was holding.

"WHAT?!" He spluttered, his mind unable to process the earth-shattering news that was Rivaille-san's age.

"Th-Th-Th-Th-"

"Thirty." Rivaille-san completed for him what he was unable to say, his face as unamused as usual.

"Are you sure?" Eren blurted out, and regretted it once he saw the older man's glare deepen _just a little slightly._

"Why wouldn't I be sure of my own age?" Rivaille-san reverted back to his previous task of arranging the books.

"Just to be sure… You know…" Eren's voice trailed off once he realised that Rivaille was not going to answer him and, still in great disbelief, smiled weakly and scrambled to pick up the newspapers on the floor.

_End flashback_

* * *

_He doesn't look that old… _Eren mused, trying to convince himself of the pros of dating an older man. Learning Rivaille-san's age had not stopped his feelings at all, and had instead, magnified Eren's affection towards the older man. Eren was a little embarrassed to admit that Rivaille-san's actions were _a lot_ more _cuter _now that he knew his age.

He recalled the first time he had met Rivaille-san. He had stayed back with his best friends Mikasa and Armin after school to study for the upcoming history test. His classmates were all confident of passing the test without studying, but Eren knew his own abilities, and he knew that he would need all the help he would get to get a good score.

Eren had left his friends to check out a few reference books in the library, and it had taken him some time to search out the recommended books. He heaved a few more books into his arms and prepared to leave the room.

But then, he saw it.

The light.

Or rather, lights.

The shining, sparkling, glittering scene before him blinded his eyes. The entire area of that little nook in the library was screaming of cleanliness and exuded a fresh scent of lemons which made Eren long for a cup of freshly-squeezed lemonade. He wanted to drop his books on the spot and relax in the beauty that was that very clean corner. He marvelled at the scene of pure white around him and wondered what exactly was the foreign feeling bubbling in his chest at that moment. It was exquisite, it was spectacular, it… It made him feel like a _princess_. He wanted to stay in that moment forever, never letting the wondrous sight escape his eyes, he wanted t-

"You are in the way, damn brat."

Eren jolted out of his reverie upon hearing the very rude interruption, he turned to face the intruder and internally gasped at what he saw.

If he had felt like a princess before, then the sight before was the epitome of Cinderella.

Dressed in a crisp white uniform of white pants and white shirt complete with a white headscarf was one of the school janitors, but this was no ordinary school janitor, because this janitor was a grumpy school janitor.

The school janitors were known for their cheerful, happy expressions no matter where and what they were cleaning. In fact, Eren recalled seeing one particular janitor whistling happily to himself while scrubbing the toilet bowl. If that wasn't considered weird, he didn't know what weird was. So Eren could only conclude that the janitor in front of him now was either new (and had yet to integrate into the team of happy cleaners), or he was an imposter (although he wasn't sure why someone would impersonate a school janitor).

He stared at Mr Grumpy as he walked past him to wipe away the speck of the dust which had just fallen on the window pane, and realised that Mr Grumpy, was rather _short_.

He barely reached a little above Eren's ears from what Eren estimated, and it was all he could do but stare at this little specimen of a cleaner as he resorted to using an old wooden stool to reach a high corner of the window.

"You did this?!" He asked without thinking, and winced when Mr Grumpy whipped his to stare at him.

"If by 'this' you mean clean the room, then yes I did. Am I not allowed to do my job?" Hands moved to rub vigorously at the window while their owner replied in a rather bored tone.

Eren was awestruck. This little man, doing everything by himself? He was amazing! Eren had never seen a room this clean before, and to find out that it was all done by one person had touched him very much_. He must be a really dedicated person to do all this_, Eren mused. His own room would never reach one-quarter of this supreme standard. He needed to know the motivations behind this man! Only then would he be able to clean his room well and make his mum proud!

"What's your name, mister?" Eren asked, eager to know the name of such an amazing person. Mr Grumpy bent down to pick up the bottle Windex from his bucket and glanced at him before turning back to spray the windows. Eren's shoulders slumped when he saw he was being ignored.

"Rivaille."

His ears perked up at once. "Rivaille_-san_?" He tested the name on his lips, and nodded in satisfaction at it.

He heard a gruff "hmmph" from the other man, and smiled to himself.

"So, Rivaille-san, are you new here?"

The stool wobbled slightly, as if the person standing on it was offended at such a question. Eren gulped and watched the other man carefully.

"I'm the head cleaner here, what do you think?" came the moody reply.

Silence resumed save for the squeaking of the windows as Rivaille-san scrubbed the panes intensely.

_HEAD CLEANER?!_

In his surprise, Eren voiced out his thoughts:

"Eh? Head cleaner?! I wouldn't have pegged you as such! I thought the head cleaner would be the happiest of them all!"

The stool wobbled harder this time, and this time Eren could feel a hint of irritation from the man before him. It was unfortunate that, in undergoing the process of shaking, the stool had given way, and Rivaille was soon falling off the rickety excuse of a stool. Eren acted immediately.

His quick reflexes soon led him to finding himself in a rather bizarre situation. _Wh-What's this feeling…_ Lying in his arms, scooped tightly to his chest was Rivaille-san, who was rather heavy for his height, and looked rather mortified at being carried like a _princess_ by the _younger_ boy he had just met quite a while ago. It was very embarrassing for the older man.

"Put me down." Rivaille ordered, and the boy quickly obliged. He dusted off the dirt that got transferred from the boy to him, and looked at the boy squarely in the face.

"Thank you, but I would have preferred a less extreme way of helping me. Now, if you would excuse me, I have a toilet to clean." Mustering as much dignity as he could, Rivaille picked up his bucket and stool, and left -_fled_- in the most subtle way possible. He could always return to clean the rest of the library when the boy was gone.

His heart thumping like crazy, Eren could only stare at the back of the older man as said man exited the room.

* * *

Eren was very, very sure he was in love.

His friends, on the other hand, had mixed reactions to the object of his affections:

"THIRTY?!"

Two voices shouted in unison, one of them a lot louder than the rest. He had just told his two closest friends, and Jean (who had popped out of nowhere), of his love problems. He looked at the three of them, patiently waiting for their opinions, but the unamused faces he saw had him realise that they thought he was joking.

He cleared his throat:

"Guys, I'm serious."

The trio around him stared back, none of them reacting to his words.

"Hahaha…?" Armin tried to laugh it off but trailed off once he realised that Eren _was _serious. His jaw dropped open immediately.

Mikasa had kept her cool and calmly regarded him with a disapproving stare, and Jean heaved a huge sigh of relief before he rearranged his expression to mirror Armin's expression of shock.

"Eren… Do you want to go home and rest?" Armin reached out towards him in grave concern.

"No, I'm not unwell, I'm ser-" He was cut off as Jean pulled him to the side.

"Oi, are you alright in the head? I know you are a suicidal idiot and all, but this is really extreme! You are referring to the grumpy one with the mop, right? It's crazy! He might attack you with his mop or something. I've seen him do that! I know I should be thankful that Mikasa would be available and all but still… It's crazy!"

Eren ignored the rant that was pouring out of Jean's mouth and turned to his other friends for their opinions.

"Well?" he asked hopefully.

"Crazy! Suicidal! You will get killed!" Amidst Jean's rambling, Armin spoke up:

"Eren… I can't say I understand your feelings for now, just let me analyse the possible reasons for your strange thinking and come up with a solution to this." Upon saying this, Armin went into deep-thinking mode immediately.

"CRAZY! IT'S CRA-" He switched off Jean's outburst, and resisted the growing urge to hit the both of them. He looked at Mikasa, waiting and hoping for her reaction to at least be favourable.

"Eren… I think it's a bad idea." His best friend's direct reply sank his hopes of finding support, and he glared at the three of them.

"It's not like you guys are the ones in love, so you all wouldn't understand." Getting out of his seat, he pushed past the trio and headed for the exit.

"Eren! Where are you going?" Mikasa's worried call stopped him in his tracks.

"Since none of you guys want to support me in my wooing of Rivaille-san, I'm going to do it all on my own. I'll show you all that our relationship is possible, so that you all have no choice but to accept it!" Saying that, he exited the room quickly, his mind already forming plans.

_I'll get him to fall for me! Just wait and see!_

Eren was very sure that it was only a matter of time before Rivaille-san fell head-over-heels for him.

* * *

**A/N:** Am I rusty?! TOTOTOT Is this interesting enough? Seems like it's going into the direction of CAAHI and SSR :O

Do tell me if any mistakes or anything are spotted thanks!

Reviews are very much appreciated :P


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Here's another update before I go off for my exams. Will probably continue in like around 2 weeks later :/ Please be patient with me! Don't worry, I update pretty fast when there's no commitments (if I say so myself) :D

And thank you all for the reviews/ favourites/ follows etc. I'm glad to see that my writing hasn't withered and died xP

**Disclaimer:** I do not own SnK!

* * *

CHAPTER 2:

_Step #1 Start a conversation_

Eren took a deep breath, going over the lines he had carefully scripted out with much difficulty the night before. After that last meeting and finding out about Rivaille-san's age, things had been pretty awkward whenever they were together in the library, so he had decided that a little conversation would warm Rivaille-san up.

Rivaille-san was at the library at five-o-clock every evening, and Eren would drop by whenever he could to help out with the cleaning and such. It was pretty much the only time they got to enjoy each other's company- Eren never had the chance of running into the mad before six. Though he was not sure if Rivaille-san did enjoy his company, the fact that he wasn't chased away yet would he was not that unwelcomed.

Taking another deep breath, he gave a firm nod to himself and strode into the library a little earlier than his usual timing.

"Hey! Nice day today huh, Rivaille-san?" He yelled a little too loudly, causing his fellow library users to _SHHHHH _him in annoyance. _Oops, that was little too loud_. He had completely forgotten that there were others in the library. He muttered a small "sorry" and headed straight to his and Rivaille-san's little corner. Yes, he called it their corner, for no one else seemed to go there. It was mushy and all, but it wasn't as if anyone else would know. Part of him told him that nobody dared to approach that area because Rivaille-san was there, and that he was foolish for being the first to do so, but the romantic bone in his body told him that everything in the name of love was A-OK

He turned down the corner and indeed, Rivaille-san was there. Clearing his throat and getting the other man's attention, he repeated the words in his script:

"Hey! Nice day today huh, Rivaille-san?"

Rivaille-san gave a 'hmm' of acknowledgement as he wrung the towel he was holding and started wiping the table.

Eren was slightly disappointed at the lack of response, but did not let it deter him. He was not one to let such matters bring him down of course! He moved forward to Rivaille's side and grabbed the towel from him.

"What are you doing?" Rivaille-san's voice was_ a little_ threatening as he kept his firm grip on the towel.

"Let me help you! You can do other things and I'll help you wipe the tables!" Volunteering his services excitedly, Eren did his best puppy-eye gaze. It looked extremely horrifying, with his eyes bugging out and his lips puckered in a weird pout (it reminded Rivaille of the so-called 'Titans' he had read in the storybooks when he was a kid) so Rivaille quickly agreed just to get the disturbing expression off his face:

"Are you sure you know how to clean it?"

"Of course! Cleaning is my expertise! My mum says I clean my room very well!" Eren chirped, trying his best to impress the older man. Well, it was Mikasa who had helped in most of his cleaning, but a little omission would do any harm. He started rubbing the cloth along the sides of the table, with Rivaille-san watching him for a moment until he was appeased enough to begin his task of cleaning the windows. The two of them lapsed into a comfortable silence as both concentrated on their task of making the area sparkling clean.

_Ahhhh this is how it should be… It's-It's almost like a date!_ Eren's internal cheering had him bursting out into an uncontrollable silly grin. He rubbed the table harder in his excitement, causing Rivaille to turn towards him.

_When we grow old together, Rivaille-san and I will enjoy life cleaning our house!_

His overexcited and overly imaginative mind had him dreaming of the beautiful future that lay ahead for them…

_It was their hundredth anniversary, and Eren and Rivaille were celebrating it with their favourite hobby- cleaning the house._

"_Le's c-c'ean 'e windows 'oge'er E-Eren…" Rivaille-san mumbled softly when they were done with mopping the floor._

"_O-Okey, R-Ri'aille-'an… Le' me 'ake ou' 'e window cleaning supplies" Eren mumbled back as he trudged to the storeroom full of Rivaille's treasures._

_Even when Rivaille-san was a hundred and thirty years old, he was still so beautiful, with his bushy white beard kept as clean as a whistle, and his wrinkles are neatly arranged on his face. Rivaille-san was still able to maintain his image of a perfect man. Eren grinned a toothless grin to himself as he carried the supplies out one by one._

"_P-Pass me 'e W-Windex, w-would ya?" Rivaille-san asked politely, and Eren's trembling hands passed the bottle to his love's similarly shaking ones._

_The soft 'psst' of the Windex was calming to their ears, and Eren felt that they could stay that way forever, rubbing the cleaning their house in that blissful moment of love._

"_Ri'aille-'an… I love y-you…"_

"_E-Eren… I-I love y-you 'oo…"_

_HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH! _Eren, being all caught up in his daydream, failed to notice that he had stopped wiping and had ended up giggling like a crazy fangirl. His eyes glazed with happiness and whatnot, he clutched the towel to his chest and sighed dreamily.

"Stop that, it's creepy." That had Eren looking up into Rivaille's face before realising what a fool he must look like. He schooled his expression into one that mirrored Rivaille-san's. Perhaps that was the correct attitude to have when cleaning- a serious and unaffected attitude of concentration. _Wait… This is so uncomfortable, how does he maintain such a face all the time?!_ He resumed his wiping of the table, his eyes and lips twitching as he struggled to keep the expression up.

"Stop that, you look like me." Rivaille-san ordered, his eyebrow arched in an unimpressed manner. _Or rather, trying to look like me. And failing miserably_, he added.

"O-okay…" Eren let his face returned to his normal self, his face a bright shade of red.

The awkward silence between the two of them was definitely not what Eren had envisioned. He opened his mouth to add on, but realised that he had completely forgotten what came after that line about his mother. His daydream must have robbed the words out of him!

_Shit! Er… _Wracking his brains for the line he was supposed to say did not help much, and Eren was left stunned with his mouth opening and closing like a fish. He absent-mindedly sprayed the table, a little unnerved by sudden short-circuit.

"Dust would fly in there."

"Huh?" came his intelligent response at Rivaille-san's words. Registering the meaning of the sentence, Eren closed his mouth immediately. Rivaille-san probably liked people with clean mouths. He made a mental note to rinse his mouth with Listerine at least five times a day.

_Wait, did Rivaille-san just say something out of his own accord? _The full implications of this dawned on Eren as he stared in open wonder at the other. Up until this point their conversations was mostly Eren talking and Rivaille making 'hmmph's in reply.

"R-Rivaille-san!" was Eren could say. His chest bursting with emotion at this new point of their relationship, and he resisted the urge to fist-pump the air. Grinning happily to himself, Eren continued his scrubbing of the table. He picked up the bottle and got ready to spray another dose when suddenly, his arm was grabbed roughly and he found himself being jerked back.

"OI ARE YOU BLIND? THAT'S FEBREZE YOU ARE USING!" Rivaille roared as silently as possible (since they were in the library), his eyes flashing dangerously at the sight of the horrifying cleaning mishap. Eren glanced down at the bottle in his hand, and sure it was, it was _Febreze_. He dropped the bottle in panic, causing the contents of the bottle to spill and soak the carpeted floor of the library.

_Oh shit_ was Eren's only thought as Rivaille and him watched the carpet turn into a darker shade of red, the wet stain blossoming like flowers, which was a highly inappropriate analogy to use at that moment. And indeed in deep shit he was when he looked up to see Rivaille-san's glare directing daggers at him, threatening to stab his very soul multiple times even if stabbing souls defied logic.

_OH SHIT!_

"Eren. Jaeger."

The tone accompanying Rivaille-san's words was not very comforting at all, and Eren felt himself standing at attention, eyes squished shut in fear of whatever was to befall him.

The footsteps approaching him were ominous, and Eren did not have the luxury of time to think about how on earth was Rivaille-san even able to make footstep noises on carpets before he dropped to his knees on the ground and kowtowed desperately.

"I-I'm sorry, Rivaille-san! Forgive me! I'll clean it up!" Scrambling for the nearest cloth, Eren started rubbing over the wet stains of the carpet, cursing himself while he did so. Rivaille-san, in extreme head cleaner mode, supervised the younger boy as he made pathetic attempts to remove the patches of Febreze from the carpet.

After a few minutes of watching Eren's futile scrubbing and obvious panicking, Rivaille sighed. Much as he appreciated the boy's attempts at helping him, he brought a little more trouble than he was worth at times.

"Forget it, Febreze can be used for carpets anyway. Just get go back to cleaning the table again, but this time, not with Febreze. Use this instead." A spray bottle of Pledge was pushed into his hands, and Eren accepted the bottle with gratefulness.

"Thank you, Rivaille-san! I won't screw up this time! I'll make the tables really clean!" With that, Eren rushed to the table to begin his task of table cleaning.

Watching the boy eagerly rub the table and going over each spot with precision while humming some random tune, Rivaille sighed again.

As interesting as he was, Eren Jaeger was sure going to bring him a lot of trouble.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** In view of the official names being confirmed, do you guys mind if I changed Rivaille's name to Levi? I'm keeping it as Rivaille here tentatively so do tell me your opinions about the name change!

And I'm sorry it took so long! My exams were postponed because of circumstances and I just found time to finish this chapter TOT

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin!

* * *

CHAPTER 3:

Yesterday's failure of a conversation and disastrous incident had shook Eren's confidence a little. Not only did he get Rivaille-san angry, he had even spilt Rivaille-san's precious Febreze over the carpet. A cleaner's most precious items were his cleaning supplies, wasn't it? It was clear from Rivaille-san's horrified and pained expression when he saw the clear liquid filling the carpet, and it made Eren feel really, really guilty.

Rivaille-san had thanked him curtly after they both were done with the cleaning that day, and had left promptly without a second glance. It didn't take much for Eren to put two and two together to know that Rivaille-san was _really really _upset.

And thus, Eren knew he had to come up with a plan to make Rivaille-san get over the loss of his Frebreze (and at the same time, forgive him and perhaps even fall in love with him).

But the problem was, what should he do exactly?

Each of Eren's ideas to comfort Rivaille-san seemed worse than the previous, and he was at his wit's end. It hardly seemed right to send flowers expressing his condolences, and holding a ceremony for the bottle was a little too extreme– Rivaille-san would probably think he was making fun of him. That was a no-go. Eren definitely did not want to make Rivaille-san angrier. That would be a step backwards in their relationship.

All this thinking was giving him a big headache, and rolling around in his bed did not help matters. All it did was make him lose his balance and land on the floor with a loud 'thump'. The noise however, had Mikasa running in and upon seeing him on the floor, had her crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Mikasa… How does one comfort someone who has lost something?" he asked idly, his green eyes staring at a random black spot on the ceiling. Maybe he could invite Rivaille-san over to clean it up.

_As if Mikasa would know…_ _For me to ask her about this, I must be really desperate… _

Asking Mikasa about matters like this was futile. From their years together, he had never seen Mikasa comfort, or succeed at comforting someone. For all the all-rounded talents she had, comforting someone was not her forte. He watched as Mikasa struggled to come up with an answer, her brows furrowing a little deeper.

"I would…," her brows furrowed further before lighting up. Eren held his breath. _Could Mikasa have the answer?_

"…"

His hopes were dashed upon noticing her reaction. Mikasa looked troubled as she stared back at him helplessly. Eren sighed, feeling slightly crestfallen. He looked back at the ceiling. The black spot seemed to be moving.

"Maybe you can pat him on the back?" Mikasa offered rather unhelpfully. Her oh-so-helpful advice was ignored by Eren, who continued tracing the movements of the black spot. "Eren, you shouldn't be asking me about this sort of thing," Mikasa continued as she sat on down on his bed. "What happened, anyway?"

Propping his chin on his hands, he looked at Mikasa.

"I need to get Rivaille-san's forgiveness."

Mikasa's shoulders stiffened immediately at the mention of Eren's love interest. She looked deep in thought as she bowed her head a little before glancing back at him, her face a picture of neutrality.

"I see. What did you do to make him angry?"

Eren groaned. It was painful to recall that fateful incident of yesterday. "I spilled his Frebeze on the carpet. He got mad and left before I could apologise properly." At the sound of what sounded like a snort from Mikasa, he tilted his head towards her but shrugged it off almost immdeiately- Mikasa was not the kind to snort. He went back to his black spot watching.

After another round of silence, Mikasa spoke up:

"Eren, I know what you can do."

"What is it?" Eren blurted out his question in his anticipation, scooting towards his best friend to hear whatever pearls of wisdom that was to come.

Mikasa had a small smile as she took in his excitement:

"Remember when Reiner had that fight with Bertholdt? And what Bertholdt did to make Reiner forgive him?" Eren nodded eagerly at her words. Saint Maria High's famous (gay) couple, Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Huber, were the most lovey-dovey, vomit-inducing and madly-in-love pair Eren had ever met. Not one day passed without the couple's blatant flirting wherever they could, with Bertholdt's puppy-like adoration of his boyfriend making the girls at school shriek like some rabid fangirls. Eren usually ignored the couple whenever he ran into them- their public displays of affection were a_ little_ too over the top for him. If it was him and Rivaille-san though… He chuckled to himself rather maniacally, oblivious to Mikasa's judging stare but snapped out of his daze upon recalling his situation. Clearing his mind off certain fantasies involving a certain someone, Eren reverted back to his serious mode, his face one of constipation as he vaguely recalled the couple's fight…

* * *

_-flashback-_

"_Reiner… FORGIVE ME!" Bertholdt screamed in angst as he clutched his chest and fell to his knees. The legion of fangirls sobbed hysterically as they witnessed their favourite couple in one of the most heartbreaking scenes they ever witnessed in their lives. The object of his affections, Reiner, was spaced a few metres away from him, his posture one of complete anger as he refused to even look at the pleading man on his knees. Bertholdt's already drooping shoulders drooped even further at the sign of this rejection, his thick, fat tears rolled off his cheek onto the ground, each droplet representing the extreme sadness their owner was experiencing at that moment._

_The fangirls cried along with their idol as they surrounded Reiner, displaying their pleading faces at the stubbornly angry man. _

"_Reiner-sama, please forgive Bertholdt-sama!"_

"_Don't you pity him? Bertholdt-sama is very sincere in his apology!"_

_The blonde simply ignored the gaggle of girls as they continued their pleas, and was even prepared to leave the area when:_

"_Reiner! Please! I won't call you Baby anymore! Forgive me!"_

_Bertholdt rushed forth to stop his boyfriend's footsteps, and seemingly out of nowhere, produced a big bunch of smelly, pink roses and thrust it into Reiner's face._

"_Oh!" Reiner gasped under his breath as he admired the beautiful roses. Tears welled up in his eyes as he trembled uncontrollably. "H-How… How… romantic! Bertholdt!" He cried out in his joy, overwhelmed by the sensations the roses had invoked in him. He spread his arms wide and moved towards his lover. Bertholdt dropped the roses._

"_Reiner!" He all but ran towards the love of his life, opening his arms wide to engulf the shorter guy in a tight hug. The couple rocked on the spot slowly, lost in their own world as they stared into each other's beautiful eyes amidst the roaring applause of the audience._

_-end flashback-_

* * *

Eren nodded. The roses were really effective in getting Reiner to forgive Bertholdt. In fact, since that incident, the couple seemed to be even more in love than before. Surely the same would apply to him and Rivaille-san.

"So I should buy him a bouquet of roses to apologise?" Eren pondered aloud. It seemed like a pretty good idea. Who on earth could resist such a romantic thing?

Mikasa nodded in approval. "Well, you can make it more romantic by…" she trailed off as a small smile appeared on her face. She looked at Eren with a knowing smile.

He was feeling a little too impatient to play along with Mikasa, so he demanded:

"Well? What can I do to make it more romantic?"

Mikasa leaned towards him, as if she was going to impart the world's biggest secret to him and murmured:

"Scatter the roses all around him. That's definitely more romantic right?"

It was as if great enlightenment had descended upon Eren. He nodded furiously:

"That's a brilliant idea, Mikasa! I'll go and buy the roses immediately!" He got up from his position on the floor and dashed out of the room.

"Don't forget to buy the strong-scented ones! You'll want to fill Rivaille-san's nostrils with the scent of your love!" Mikasa called after him as she watched her best friend hurry down the stairs in his rush to get to the florist.

_Slam!_

The front door slammed shut as Eren raced out. Mikasa remained still for a moment before she chuckled softly, the small smile on her face growing into an amused smirk.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Due to popular demand, Rivaille will remain as Rivaille xDD

Also, thank you everyone who has reviews, favourite, etc! I'm really happy TOT

So I'm trying to update this fic as much as I can and hopefully before my hiatus because I'll be gone for months…

In response to** Namio**: Yup the usage of –san is off but I wanted to show that there's a form of respect for Rivaille. From where I come from we call the cleaners 'uncle' and 'auntie' but Eren calling Rivaille 'uncle' is kind of awkward in my opinion and hence I used –san.

I'm really sorry if it's off-putting though; I really hope it doesn't deter your reading of the story!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own SnK!

* * *

CHAPTER 4:

The next day, Eren bought the boxes of bright pink roses he had cleared the store of, and was thoroughly prepared to seduce the love of his life.

His plan was simple: fill up every corner of the library with roses and watch Rivaille-san fall in love with him. Mikasa's original suggestion was just to dump the entire box on him, but Eren knew better- he wasn't going to risk the consequences of a dirty Rivaille (especially if he was the one doing the dirtying). In his opinion, confessing at the library- the first (and only) place they met would make the situation a lot more romantic than simply showering the older man with roses.

After much difficulty, he managed to settle the boxes around his table with Mikasa and Armin's help. His best friends had showed up at his house that morning, offering to help him carry the heap of boxes to school, and Eren had accepted their help gratefully. The trio had then spent their time discussing Eren's plans, and much to his delight, Mikasa and Armin had both agreed to aid him. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was thankful to have Mikasa's brawn and Armin's brains as his allies- his previous failure with Rivaille-san had made it clear to himself that he was hopeless in the love department.

He peered into one box for the hundredth and fifty-first time that day, enough for the strong stench of the roses to emanate the whole classroom. Ignoring his strange classmates who had their hands covering their noses for some unknown reason, Eren patted the box proudly. He was ready to capture Rivaille-san's heart.

So Eren had started the day off with a cheery face, unknowingly scaring many of his classmates (and his teachers) while suffocating them with the aroma of his lovely roses.

Time seemed to pass really slowly (almost as slow as Jean's brain was), and Eren was impatiently tapping his pen against the desk, much to the irritation of Hanji-sensei, who was animatedly engrossed in sharing about her latest experiment on sensuality potions. Hanji-sensei's furious glare stopped his tapping, so Eren ended up giving the clock a glare of his own, trying to shift its slowly ticking hands with sheer willpower. Unfortunately, it was totally ineffective.

The periods dragged on and on- even sleeping didn't help to pass the time. Eren's excitement would wake him up every five minutes; have him glance at the clock, only to flop back down on his desk in disappointment. Compared to school, the issue of chasing Rivaille-san was much more serious, and no amount of maths and whatnot would distract him from his focus. It was only with Armin's urging glances and Mikasa's threatening glare that snapped him back to attention, and Eren tried his best to pay his fullest attention to the lesson. Ultimately, he couldn't, and Eren ended up doodling on his paper.

The ringing of the final bell of the day had Eren shooting out of his seat with a loud "FINALLY", and he all but dragged his two accomplices to the corner of the library. They heaved the last of the boxes onto the wooden table and Eren started scrambling to open them.

"Slow down, Eren!" Mikasa chided as she ripped apart a box, causing its contents to spill all over the table. Eren groaned at the mess and swore to make his friends clean up with him later. He didn't want to trouble Rivaille-san with the clean-up.

"Be careful, Eren, the rose thorns are sharp," Mikasa warned as she started pulling at the petals. To Eren's horror, she then started tossing them everywhere.  
Eren quickly moved to stop her:

"Wait, Mikasa! You can't just throw them around like that! You have to follow the plan!" He pulled out the crumpled sheet of paper he was doodling on in class, and displayed it proudly for his friends to see.

The sheet of paper was full of messy scribbles; cancellation lines, streaks of eraser marks and sooty graphite stains covering almost every inch of whiteness. It was clear that Eren had put much thought into his plan. Right in the middle of the paper was a lump of lines Armin guessed was the floorplan of the room, and right in the middle of the floorplan were the words 'I love you, Rivaille'. A nearby arrow pointing to it had the instructions 'To arrange with petals' scrawled over it, making Armin smile- Eren wasn't that hopeless of a romantic after all. "Okay, I guess we better start arranging them now," Armin reached out to grab a handful of petals.

Mikasa didn't move from her position at the table. Her eyes were narrowed at the sheet of paper, but she seemed to recover from her frozen state after a while and joined Armin in the arranging. Eren on the other hand, started sprinkling the floor with the petals. The trio worked in silence as they put together what was depicted in Eren's plan, and their efficient working soon had the entire library corner decked with pinkness.

"Eren, go call Rivaille. Armin and I will finish up in a while," Mikasa called out as she adjusted a rose petal. Her smile encouraged Eren, who nodded enthusiatically and ran out in search for his crush. "Armin, don't you have club activities to go to? You can go first, I'm almost done anyway," she continued as she reached out to shift another petal.

Armin was slightly confused. Why was Mikasa being so helpful? Didn't she like Eren? He opened his mouth, his unvoiced question on the tip of his tongue, but caught sight of the clock. He was late for club activities! Gulping, he got up and excused himself, not wanting to incurr the wrath of the club leader.

Mikasa looked up as the library door closed. A few seconds passed before the door opened and someone slipped in, his footsteps clacking towards her direction. Hand resting on the pillar at the corner, the person peered at Mikasa, who looked up upon sensing his presence.

"Have you done what I told you to do?" She asked, her eyes scanning the figure against the pillar. The figure nodded, and Mikasa smiled in response, triggering a slight blush from the other.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it," Mikasa murmured, her lashes lowering as she spoke.

"Do you think it'll work?" The figure asked hesistantly. "I mean, you can't just force someone to like you..." Mikasa cut the other person off:

"It will. Can't you see that he does feel something?" She sighed as the other shook his head. "I believe my instincts," Mikasa insisted, "Now come and help me with this..."

A while later, the two figures slipped out of the library, leaving behind their handiwork.

* * *

Meanwhile...

Eren wandered around the school for the fifth time since he had left the library. He had circled the entire school looking for Rivaille-san, but to no avail. Asking a random person for the time, he learnt that it was already six and guessed that the cleaner must have gone to the library already. Cursing himself, Eren ran back to the library; there was no point confessing through the roses if he himself wasn't there.

The door to the library was ajar, and Eren ran in, breathless from his frenzied sprinting. "Rivaille-san!" He called out as he reached the corner. He stopped short upon seeing the cleaner's back. Rivaille made no answer as he stood stock still, his eyes fixed on the sight in front of him. Judging from his expression, Rivaille looked a little forlorn and even annoyed, his eyebrows twitching in the process. Eren's heart sank as he observed the older man's expression. Was he not happy? His eyes followed the direction Rivaille was staring into, and he froze as well.

Eren felt his eyes growing wider and wider as he registered the sight in front of him. What happened to his arrangement?! He took a few steps forward in shock and rubbed his eyes before returning his gaze to the display.

Surrounded by pretty pink rose petals in the shape of a heart were the words:

'I loathe you, Ravioli'


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** I really have to apologise just, but I can't keep to my promise of updating fast before my hiatus. Things got busier when I didn't expect it so I'm really juggling things now. I hate to break my promise but I'll be going on a hiatus with occasional updates whenever I can. I'm really really sorry for this! TOT

On the other hand, thanks a lot for staying with the story! I understand that the slow updates are kind of irksome so I'm really happy if you guys are fine with waiting patiently. As a thank you, I wrote a longer chapter this time! Without further ado, here's chapter 5!

**Disclaimer:** SnK is not mine.

* * *

CHAPTER 5:

Eren stared at the monstrosity in front of him. The bright pink of the words 'I loathe you, Ravioli' were imprinted in his mind, each image more pink and hideous than the previous. The shocking pink rendered him speechless, and all he could do was stand and stare at the gaudiness of the display.

_H-How terrible! Why would anyone ruin my perfect arrangement?!_As much as he thought and pondered, he simply had no idea why.

He woke up from his shock when Rivaille-san started moving.

Brandishing a broom from seemingly nowhere, Rivaille began sweeping the rose petals up. Eren's first thought was: _Wait, Rivaille-san! Those flowers were expensive!_ but he stopped himself from voicing them out upon seeing the cleaner's face.

Rivaille-san looked unamused (as usual), but this time, there was a tinge of grumpiness and something Eren couldn't place on his face. He broke his stare and went forth to the sweeping man, venturing a timid "Rivaille-san?"

There was no reply for a while. Rivaille-san kept his eyes on the floor as he swept, the words he spoke so quiet Eren almost missed them: "Help me clean them up, brat."

Eren nodded immediately and got to dusting the petals off the table. With each swipe of the table, Eren felt his heart break further. It was as if each petal represented his heartbroken tears of sadness that fell as he swept his hard work away. _All my hard work... My planning... All for nothing! _Eren felt really indignant about it all.

"Rivaille-san..." he began, but his speech was interrupted by the older man.

"If I ever find out the name of the fool who did this, the person better be prepared," Rivaille-san muttered. "How filthy; dirtying the library just like this. The irresponsibility of kids these days is really alarming."

His hands gripped the broom tightly, almost breaking the handle as he channelled his anger into sweeping. Eren shuddered as he watched a crack form along the broom from iron grip of the older man.

"Y-Yeah! How terrible of that person! Dirtying Rivaille-san's spot just like that! Rivaille-san, you must not let that person off! What a bad person that person is! It's really horrible of him! He's horrible! He's evil! H-He's... Errr..." Sadly, his limited vocabulary soon had him stuttering over his tirade. "...very very bad!" He glanced in embarrassment at Rivaille, and was surprised to see that a lighter expression had replaced his annoyed one. Smiling to himself, he continued swiping the table, his heartbreak over the roses forgotten.

Rivaille-san spoke up little while after the silence that had ensued:

"Oi, brat."

The words were enough to make Eren look up immediately. Rivaille-san was hardly the kind to start conversations, so this was a pleasant surprise to him.

He replied with an excited "Yes?" and looked expectantly at the older man.

Rivaille's voice was quiet as he fixed his eyes on the floor. Eren nearly missed how the cleaner's grip tightened further as he stopped sweeping.

"Am I that detestable?"

Rivaille-san was clearly more affected by the message than he showed. Eren watched as the other man's eyebrows furrowed deeper and something in his heart clenched at older man's slightly upset tone. He felt really guilty; the roses were his idea after all, and hence the screw-up was also his fault.

Moving forward to clasp Rivaille's hands (causing their owner to look up at him in concealed surprise), Eren smiled at the shorter man. "Rivaille-san's not detestable at all! In this short span of time I've known you, you've worked so hard making the school clean for us- how can anyone hate you for that?! I think... The message... was just a mistake! The person probably arranged it wrongly or something! I'm sure he appreciates you a lot!"

The sincerity in his words seemed to cheer Rivaille up as his expression brightened further. Looking amused, he stared at Eren, "What do you think the original message was then?"

The unexpected question had Eren jerking in response. This was it! This was an opportunity for him to correct his mistake! Trembling in excitement, he grabbed the other's hands harder, and brought his eyes to Rivaille-san's very own.

His palms sweating like a pig, he surveyed Rivaille-san's face and noted his expectant face filled with a hint of disgust at the sweat pouring over his hands. Eren paid no attention to the latter expression- he'll wash Rivaille-san's hands for him later if he wanted him to.

"I-I..." He couldn't stop himself from stuttering nervously as he stared at the love of his life. Rivaille-san's grumpy-but-not-actually-grumpy expression was really adorable, and he felt his nervousness soar to new heights. His sweat seemed to flow profusely like a river now.

"I... I..." Rivaille-san nodded to encourage him, although his hands were shifting slightly as if trying to escape the flowing river. "I..." Eren struggled to get the words out of his mouth, but it was as if something was lodged in his throat, and all he could was croak and stutter pathetically.

This continued on for quite a while, with Rivaille waiting patiently for an answer, and Eren struggling to get his words out but after ten excruciating minutes, the cleaner was clearly at the limit of his patience:

"Spit it out."

He shrugged off Eren's damp hands and wiped his own with a silk handkerchief, cringing in horror at the voluminous amount of sweat drenching the cloth. The brat was clearly a sweat-producing machine.

In the meantime, Eren managed to compose himself. He squeezed his eyes shut, his knees quaking a little, and mustered up his courage to yell:

"Rivaille-san! I love you!"

The loud yell echoed throughout the quiet library, resulting in a few loud 'SHH's of anger from the other students in the library.

Eren, upon remembering their location, clasped his hand over his mouth in horror, but his embarrassment wasn't enough to distract him from his elation.

_I did it! I managed to confess! Please have a favourable reaction, Rivaille-san!_

Awkward silence ensued as the two of them remained in their positions. This was definitely not what he expected. Wasn't Rivaille-san supposed to jump into his arms out of joy or something? He quickly closed his outstretched hands. _Shit... What do I do now?_

The silence was making Eren uncomfortable, so he began a staring contest with the carpet.

_Oooh, nice red..._ He thought idly as he kept up his staring. A moment passed before he was unable to take the silence, and he snuck a look at the other man. What he saw made him really concerned.

Rivaille-san was still frozen in his position with his arms crossed, looking exactly like how he did moments ago, only with the exception of his eyebrows which were more furrowed than ever. _Those brows may remain stuck in that position one day_, Eren thought as he moved forward to the older man. He suppressed his urge to snicker- it was no time to laugh, concern was the necessary emotion at the moment.

"R-Rivaille-san?" Eren asked softly, but was greeted with no response. He waved his arms in front of the statue that was Rivaille, trying to elicit a reaction from the other, but to no avail. He felt his panic set in slowly, as he tried all sorts of attention-grabbing movements to try to unfreeze the frozen cleaner.

"Rivaille-san? Rivaille-san?!" In his desperate movements, he knocked over a bottle of Windex in the table, and sent the bottle toppling onto the floor. Unsurprisingly, that had Rivaille snapping out of his crystallised form and leaping to save the falling bottle. With a few quick movements, the bottle was in Rivaille's grasp.

Cradling the bottle as if it was his newborn baby, the cleaner heaved a huge sigh of relief.

"Rivaille-san!" Eren called out in relief. "Are you okay?" He gave the older man an once-over to assess his condition. _Yup, he looks okay._ Eren relaxed upon affirming this.

Setting his precious baby on the table, Rivaille turned to face the brat he had recently regarded as his assistant cleaner. The boy was delusional to think that someone was interested in an old cleaner like him. But his honest and firm belief in his suggestion was sort of endearing, so he decided to humour his protégé.

"So you think the message was a declaration of love? I find that very hard to believe." He questioned, making his disbelief as clear as the Windex in his bottle.

Eren's response was immediate: "Yes!" He exclaimed, "That person must have been amazed by your skills with cleaning, and hence felt a pressing need to declare his love for you!"

Rivaille quirked an eyebrow at the boy's use of 'his' but did not press further. It was none of his business what the boy's sexual preference was after all.

Eren took the silence as a sign to go on:

"Rivaille-san's cleaning skill is superb, making the library shine so much and all, plus your strict care for your cleaning supplies tells me how meticulous and caring you are. And I think you are really really cute when you scrunch your brows and..."

If Eren wasn't ashamed of his blatant flattering, he had Rivaille feeling embarrassed for him. The boy uttered some of the mushiest lines he had ever heard! It was almost as if he was unconsciously confessing to him. He resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands as Eren chatter on. The brat seemed to like to chatter a lot.

He decided to put a stop to the nonsense sprouting out of the younger boy's mouth. Jaeger clearly did not know what he was talking about.

"Jaeger, you can stop now. Thanks for the... compliments."

Surprisingly, he did not listen for once:

"I'm serious, Rivaille-san. I really really like you. The roses were meant as a confession but I really have no idea why it ended up like that. I-"

His speech was cut off yet again by the other man:

"... Are you saying you are the one who created this mess?"

Rivaille's voice held a tone of amusement, and yet was slightly threatening. Eren could not tell if this meant good or bad news. He gulped as he pondered his next words."Er..." He trailed off.

He felt a sense of deja vu as they entered another round of awkward staring, with most of the awkwardness being felt by Eren while the staring was done by Rivaille. "Er..." He started, only to stop again. He really needed to work on his eloquence one day. Hanging his head low, he replied "Yes... I did it Rivaille-san, I'm really sorry... I meant to clean it up! But I'm really serious about it. Liking you, I mean." _Way to go Eren_, he applauded his own bravery at speaking up.

Rivaille didn't know whether to laugh or cry, though either way, he was sure his expression would be the same and he wasn't the type to laugh _or_ cry anyway. Thus, he continued stoning.

The poor boy was probably at that stage where one was confused about their sexuality. Rivaille himself had not experienced much attraction to others in his younger years, but he had heard and read about the topic and was rather confident of his knowledge in that area.

What could he do for this poor, confused soul? He felt a sense of obligation to help his fellow cleaner as much as he could. He stared long and hard at Eren, thinking deeply of good solutions to help him.

The boy must be so deprived of girls to the point of him imagining that he had feelings for another guy. Rivaille had not paid much attention to the opposite gender during his years in the school, but from what he had observed, most of the females weren't that bad. Perhaps it was just Jaeger's ill-luck, but Rivaille couldn't fathom why; the brunette wasn't a looker but he certainly had a special... charm or something that made people pay attention to him.

If deprivation was Jaeger's problem then resolving this wasn't a problem at all. He recalled what Petra, his assistant head cleaner, had told him a few hours before. An idea formulating on his mind, Rivaille knew what he had to do.

"It's okay." He reached out to place a hand on the poor boy's shoulder, wanting to comfort him but the possibility of contacting germs soon had him retracting it. He opted for a pitying gaze instead. This however, made Eren more confused:

"Huh?" _What's okay? My confession? Does that mean that he's accepting me? R-Rivaille-san!_

Rivaille watched the look of relief and elation passing Eren's face. Yes, he was definitely doing the right thing for the boy- _just look at his sheer joy!_ He sincerely wished that Jaeger would get better with the help of his plan.

He nodded:

"I'll take you to a special place tomorrow. It'll be good."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Hi guys, here's a random sporadic update for you all LOL. Please enjoy! And thanks for the reviews, favs etc ^^

And I'm quite curious, where do you all see the direction this fic is heading into?

**Disclaimer****:** I do not own SnK!

* * *

CHAPTER 6:

_"I'll take you to a special place tomorrow. It'll be good."_

...was what Rivaille-san had said yesterday.

The two sentences were enough to send Eren into a frenzy, as he started panicking over his attire once he reached home. He had no suits or formal wear on hand; his closet was mostly jeans and casual stuff, and this made him really troubled.

_What would Rivaille-san think when he sees me being so underdressed?! He said we are going to a special place after all... I wonder where though, maybe the movies? Nah, that isn't really special... Or a fine dining restaurant? But I don't know any dining etiquette! Ahhhhhhhhhh I'm going on a date with Rivaille-san!_ Eren's thoughts had him turning red in embarrassment, and he tried to rein in his excitement.

The knock on the door had him looking up to see Mikasa entering and dropping herself on his bed. Taking in the messy, clothes-covered surroundings of Eren's room, she knew something was up. She looked at Eren for an explanation.

Eren flushed again and looked at the floor, not wanting to meet Mikasa's eyes:

"I'm going on a date with Rivaille-san!"

The loud crash onto the floor was not the reaction he expected. Turning his head to see Mikasa fallen on the ground, her eyes widened in huge shock, Eren grew concerned:

"Mikasa?! Are you okay?"

The black-haired girl slowly picked herself up from the ground, ignoring his outstretched hand. Dusting off her clothes, she asked:

"Do you need my help Eren? You look like you are having trouble with choosing your clothes." Eren lit up at her offer, nodding eagerly:

"Thanks, Mikasa!" He held up two pieces of clothing and asked, "Which one should I wear?"

The shirts were of the same design (Eren wasn't much of a shopper), except for their different shades of brown. Mikasa cringed a little at her best friend's idea of fashion.

The disapproving look from Mikasa after she had surveyed the clothes had Eren retracting his hands slowly. He placed the clothes back into his closet dejectedly.

He was pushed away lightly by Mikasa, who started rummaging through his closet. Stopping when she found something, she pulled out the piece of clothing from the closet.

"This is perfect."

Eren stared at Mikasa's choice of clothing, unsure of what to reply his best friend. "T-That hardly seems appropriate, does it?", he asked in doubt, his eyes raking over the clothes in Mikasa's hands. "Besides, I wore that years ago so I don't think I can fit it now." His speech was interrupted by a huge sigh from the girl.

"Eren, I chose this because of reasons. Trust me on this."

Eren seriously doubted that Mikasa's 'reasons' were reasonable reasons, but out of friendship and goodwill, he decided to trust his best friend. "Care to share the reasons, then?", he asked out of curiosity. Mikasa nodded.

"You see, that old foge- I mean strapping young lad," she changed her words upon noticing Eren's glare. "... has a frown on his face 24/7. Shouldn't you be concerned over that? It's going to become a permanent thing, and your baby will emerge looking all frowny too. Do you seriously want that?!"

Eren was horrified at the implication of Mikasa's words. Their baby... looking like that permanently?! While he loved Rivaille-san, face and all, he wouldn't want a whole family of frowns to greet him whenever he was home. Not realising that men could not actually make babies with one another, Eren's thoughts spiralled downhill...

_"Dad, I scored full marks on my test." His son stared up at him as he held up the test paper. Their son, Ravioli (he refused to name their son Windex Jr), was a perfect combination of his father and mother. Sporting scrunched-up eyebrows reflective of their mother and a perpetual frown just like his father, there couldn't be a more grumpier-looking person than their very own son._

_Eren looked up from his immense concentration on the newspaper and glanced at the paper. He felt a sense of pride at the bright red 100 on the test paper. His child was a brilliant one indeed!_

_"Good boy, Ravioli. Dad will bring you out for ice-cream as a reward!" He patted the child's head and smiled at his precious baby._

_Ravioli's face was as impeccable as ever, so Eren couldn't tell if he was happy or not. But he probably was because anyone would be happy with ice-cream._

_"Yay dad. I'm happy." Yup, he was happy alright. Nothing could go wrong with ice-cream. Eren patted his head again._

_"Have you told your mother?" Ravioli nodded mutely:_

_"Mother says that he is happy too." At that moment, 'Mother' walked in, dressed in his cleaning gear as always._

_Eren went over to his wife/husband and hugged him fondly. "Our son is such a smart one. It's all thanks to your good genes." _

_Rivaille-san looked at him with his usual stare. "Of course it is, it can't be your genes that have made him smart. It would be a major embarrassment if our son took after you." Wait what?_

_"Rivaille-san, you are supposed to smile at me and say 'Yes, dear, but I've couldn't have done it without you.'" Eren corrected his wife-husband, a frown of his own taking over his previous smile._

_Rivaille-san pushed out of his arms and pivoted to face him:_

_"You have no right to dictate my actions. Plus, this has always been the face you accepted and loved. Were you lying when you said you loved me all these times?"_

_Eren shook his head vigorously. "N-No, Rivaille-san, how could you question my love for you?" He went forward to embrace his wife-husband, only to miss as Rivaille skilfully and gracefully darted out of his reach just like beautiful ballerina._

_"I'm leaving. Let's go, Ravioli." Grabbing Ravioli's hand, Rivaille-san stalked out of the house, ignoring Eren's pitiful protests._

_Eren could only watch as the loves of his life left his life, leaving him to die alone with nothing but his and Rivaille-san's cleaning supplies…_

* * *

"NO! PLEASE DON'T GO!"

Eren screamed in horror and flailed his arms wildly, startling the nearby Mikasa and causing her to fall to the floor again. He couldn't stop the tears from streaming from his eyes as he thought of his despair-filled future of solitude and sadness. It was really very sad.

"M-Mikasa... I-I'll wear it... I'll wear that to the date so Rivaille-san will be happy. Please teach me more on how to make him happier..." Eren turned his tear-filled eyes at his only hope and pleaded sadly. It took Mikasa all her strength and will not to hug the adorable sight.

Mikasa nodded as she got up from the ground again, "Don't worry, Eren, I'll guide you, so listen to me and things will be fine."

Her words had a soothing effect on the sobbing boy, who nodded as well and muttered:

"Thanks... But don't-"

"Tell anyone you were crying right? I won't." Mikasa cut in, her smile bringing a smile to Eren as well.

Relieved by Mikasa's comforting words, Eren felt more confident in his future with Rivaille-san; Mikasa was always there for him to count on, what could go wrong this time? Wiping his tears away, Eren's resolve grew firm:

"Alright, let's do it!"

* * *

Hence, the next day, Eren found himself at the corner in the library, dressed in a tight-fitting clown costume complete with obnoxious make-up, a puffy orange wig and bright red nose (and earning himself the judging stares of the library-users), waiting for Rivaille-san to arrive for their date.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** I apologise for my sudden disappearance. I'm breaking out of this long-term hiatus to post this chapter before resuming. This one will probably last until December, until my exams are over. Also, I do read reviews and I'm really happy about them, but time robs me of the ability to reply so I'm sorry for the lack of replies to the recent reviews. They do give me the motivation to carry on with the fic :D

Additionally, here's a warning that the Japanese suffix of –san for Rivaille will still be used in this chapter despite English titles like 'Miss' and 'Mr'. I'm considering doing away with the suffixes and reediting the fic but that will be settled after I come back.

Gah I seem to be losing the ability to write, I'm really sorry if this chapter turned out crappy. I'll do better when all my exams are over OTL

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CHAPTER 7:

Rivaille-san was late.

Eren tapped his foot impatiently as he waited in the usual spot of the library. The clacking of his bright red leather shoes on the wooden floor of the library only served to increase his impatience, and he began pacing back and forth anxiously on the carpet. Why was Rivaille-san taking so long? The fact that the cleaner was never late made this situation highly surprising, and as much as he tried to think of reasons to explain this unusual phenomenon he was not able to.

Catching his reflection in the windows, he stopped to admire his and Mikasa's handiwork. The two of them (with feigned ignorance of Armin's worried stare), had rushed out immediately after school to a secluded staircase to prepare for the date. Mikasa had helped him adjust his costume; fluffing up his wig and applying the necessary make-up needed to transform him into the wonderful appearance he had now. He had initial apprehensions about Mikasa and make-up; one would not associate the two together at all, but after seeing her smear the white cream on his face with the skilful and controlled movements of her butter knife, Eren was certain about letting his best friend work her make-up magic.

The tightness of his clown costume had him shifting the suit a little- it had been years since he had worn it and it was barely fitting him now- the costume clung to every corner of his body like wet glue, and he felt restricted, and even suffocated in that horrendous excuse of a clown suit. _This is all for Rivaille-san, I'm doing this all for Rivaille-san,_ he muttered, reminding himself of his motivations.

Scratching his elbow- an itch was burning there, he walked to the end of the corner and peered out at the surroundings. Rivaille-san was still nowhere in sight. He resisted the urge to scratch a growing itch down _there _and focused on his itching armpit instead as he returned to his former position in the corner. Why was he so itchy? Was this a bad omen? Was Rivaille-san playing with him after all? Making him believe that he wanted to go on a date with him, only to not show up and laugh at him afterwards? _Rivaille-san that cruel player!_ Eren's totally relevant conclusions had his heart shattering at the thought of being made a fool, and he felt a growing sense of irrational anger.

He stomped out of the library, his gaudy shoes flopping wildly as he did so, making the disgruntled library people glare at him again. He simply ignored them- settling the issue with Rivaille-san was more important. He needed to confront Rivaille-san about this cruel attitude; there must have been a reason for him acting as such. Eren refused to believe that he had been tricked. Rivaille-san was simply lost and was probably rushing to him now.

He turned around the corner and bumped into the cruel player himself. _I knew he was rushing to me!_ Eren grinned mentally but unfortunately lost his balance. Stumbling a little, he felt himself being caught by the cleaner, who was staring at him with a lifted brow.

Rivaille-san steadied him with his strong arms, dusted himself and gave him another stare before heading into the library.

_Wait, where is he going?_ "Rivaille-san!" He called out to the older man, who stopped in his tracks and turned to give him yet another long stare, making Eren feel a little uncomfortable. He regarded Eren from head to toe before asking curtly:

"Do I know you?"

Eren was shocked. Did Rivaille-san not recognise him? _Even though I dressed up all for him!_ Eren was hurt at the thought, and he made his displeasure evident to the older man who, much to his disgruntlement, dared to pay it no heed.

"It's me, Rivaille-san! Eren, sir!" He attempted a friendly smile at the older man. It came out ten times creepier due to the horrendous make-up, making Rivaille shudder a little.

Rivaille considered the clown in front of him. This foolish-looking creature was Jaeger? He stared at the badly drawn make-up; the unevenness of the foundation unsettled him, and the crooked squiggles of red streaking all over his face made him seem more like an accident victim than a clown. It was a horrifying sight.

"What do you think you are doing, brat?" He crossed his arms and stared down the boy. He was beginning to be concerned for Jaeger's state of mind. The boy had been committing nothing but acts of insanity from the very first time he had met him. Rivaille wondered if the stress from school was getting to him. _Poor boy, _he thought. _And he has sexuality issues too..._ Rivaille himself didn't face much school troubles when he was a student, so he could not really comprehend the brat's turmoil.

_It'll be okay, I'll make sure of it._ Rivaille was sure his plans for the boy would definitely cure his maelstrom of troubles. Without waiting for an answer, he turned on his heel towards the stairs leading to the third floor and strode off. Once he was sure the boy was following (or rather flopping after) him, he quickened his speed towards his destination.

_Where are we going?_ Eren wondered as he stumbled all over while chasing the head cleaner. Rivaille-san's lack of reaction to his dressing up made him lose a little confidence, and he was starting to feel like a fool for wearing the costume in the first place. He scratched his chest to ease the burning itch there. The costume must not have been washed properly. He was itching all over! Gritting his teeth in an attempt to ignore the itches, Eren increased his speed and flopped after Rivaille.

* * *

The pair made quite a sight as they hurried down the hallway, the few students who saw them thought that a clown was chasing after a cleaner for reasons no one knew. They thought nothing of this particular situation though; the school was full of daily weird happenings anyway.

Eren almost bumped into the older man as he stopped abruptly in front of a wooden door. The plastic sign indicated where they were exactly- the girls' toilet.

_Huh? The Ladies?_ Eren rubbed his eyes and stared at the sign again, moving in to get a closer look. Yup, it was the girls' toilet alright. They were going to the Ladies for their first date. Extreme mortification were the words to describe Eren as he mulled over Rivaille-san's interesting choice of a first date.

Perhaps Rivaille-san was inexperienced in romance; perhaps this was his very first date too! _That's why Rivaille-san brought me here, he couldn't think of anywhere else!_ Satisfied with his reasoning, Eren took it upon himself to display his gratitude to the older man's efforts.

"How wonderful, Rivaille-san! I'm looking forward to this!" He cheered and clapped a little too enthusiastically for his liking. He didn't want to appear overly excited- he definitely did not want Rivaille-san to continue thinking that toilets were the best places for dates.

Rivaille, on the other hand, was overjoyed. Jaeger loved his plan! The boy was even clapping for goodness sake! Even though it made almost a negligible difference in his expression, he tried his best to give the boy a pleased look.

Stepping forward, he grasped the door handle, pulled the great wooden door open and wasted no time ushering the boy in.

* * *

The first thing Eren noticed was that the girls' toilet was rather different as compared to the guys. The walls were pink all over, as if there was a severe need to emphasise that this was, indeed a girls' toilet. Eren had a niggling suspicion that Rivaille had chosen the Ladies just because it was pink. Rivaille-san was a shy person after all, so he was using the toilet to express his thoughts. The bright pink of the toilet would hence represent Rivaille-san's pure love for him. Eren swooned a little at this thought.

The second thing he noticed was the sound of the light squishing of boots across the wet floor, and tracing the boots right up to their owner led him to discover a small and petite woman with brown hair, whose height _almost _reached Rivaille-san's, and whose small frown was enough to make Eren cautious in approaching her.

The brunette was dressed in the typical cleaner uniform, making it not much of a challenge to guess who she was. Almost the whole cohort of St Maria boys knew who this woman was- the beautiful and youthful assistant cleaner, Petra Ral. She had been the subject of a number of conversations in his class, enough for him to know that she was the only female cleaner in the school, and that there were rumours that she was harbouring a deep love for a certain head cleaner.

Which, if true, would make her his love rival. Eren judged from the unmoving frown on her face that she was wary of him too. He decided to test the waters.

Removing his hand from his earlier scratching of his armpit, he tried a small smile:

"Good day, Miss Ral. What brings you here to the third-floor Ladies?"

"..."

Miss Ral simply stared in disgust at his outstretched hand before disregarding it and turning to her boss and asking "Who is this clown, Corporal?"

_Pfft _

Eren struggled to keep himself from laughing. _Corporal?! What is she calling him? She must think we are in the military or something! _He returned to stoicism as he felt the force of the brunette's glare on him.

Rivaille, on the other hand kept silent as he watched the interaction between the two. Things had got off on a rocky start for now, but with a little push, he was sure the two would fall fast in love in no time. This was a young boy's manhood at stake here! He began his introductions:

"Jaeger, this is Petra Ral, my assistant cleaner. You may call her Petra too. Petra, Eren Jaeger; your assistant for today."


End file.
